The best foldable for most people might not be the one getting all the hype

 

Close to the Ultra in all the right ways

Here’s what you don’t lose when skipping the Ultra in favor of the Plus:

• You still get Motorola's excellent 4.0-inch cover display
• You still get the AI features baked into the interface, like Catch Me Up, Pay Attention, and Magic Canvas
• You get a design that’s nearly identical in footprint, dimensions, and build quality
• You even retain reverse-wireless charging (5W)

And while the Ultra does push the envelope with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and a 16 GB RAM configuration, the real-world difference for most users will likely be marginal outside of gaming and heavier multitasking.

The Ultra also features a faster charging speed (68W vs 45W) and larger base storage (512 GB vs 256 GB), but 45W is still plenty fast for most cases. And do you really need 512 GB of storage?

Camera quality: The one thing that might be a dealbreaker

This is where the Razr Ultra might win some hearts over.

But the Razr Plus has one additional quirk — the fact that it still comes with a 2X telephoto instead of an ultrawide camera for its secondary snapper at the back. Now, if you tend to take more zoomed in photos or portraits, that’s great news, but the truth is that you can always crop on an image but never add a wider field of view (well, besides with AI).

So, this could undoubtedly be a dealbreaker for some. For me, though, not so much. I find myself “reaching” for the telephoto camera much more often. In part, that’s because the ultrawide cameras tend to produce lower quality images, as their sensors are usually not great. Also, I find a tighter shot much more applicable in day-to-day activities, like taking a portrait of a friend or member.

Battery life and charging

At 4,000mAh, the Razr Plus (2025) has the smallest battery of the three new Razr models, and the gap isn’t exactly small when compared to the Ultra, which has a 4,700 mAh battery. That said, since it shares the same battery size and chipset as its predecessor, the 2024 Razr Plus gives us a reliable reference point for what to expect.

In our testing, the Razr Plus (2024) delivered an estimated battery life of 7 hours and 51 minutes, a solid number.

The Plus also gets 45W wired and 15W wireless charging, which isn’t the best out there, but should be more than adequate to charge the phone from 0-100% in about an hour or so.

Is the Ultra worth $300 more?

The Razr Ultra is a fantastic phone, arguably the best flip phone we have tested so far. It’s beautiful, fast, with software that utilizes this unique form factor perfectly. It has that immersive 4.0-inch cover screen and awesome speakers that can rival some regularly shaped flagship phones.

And while it does have that high price tag of $1,300, it offers real advantages that even Samsung doesn’t offer on the Z Flip 6. In our testing, the Ultra showed better thermal handling, stronger GPU performance, and faster charging speeds. Plus, it comes with double the base storage (512 GB vs 256 GB) and much better utilization of the cover display.

But the Razr Plus (2025) is arguably still the more practical choice for most people. Unless you’re after top-tier GPU performance or care deeply about having massive amounts of internal storage, the Plus covers nearly all the same ground at $500 less. It delivers the same excellent external display, refined software experience, and slick design.

Motorola is arguably the most consumer-friendly foldable phone manufacturer at the moment

Motorola was the first to offer a more affordable foldable phone when it first split the series into the regular Razr and the Razr Plus, with the Plus being the high-end option at the time.

The arrival of the Razr Ultra does not change that, though. The Razr Plus is still an awesome, high-end flip phone that doesn’t require an investment that’s typically associated with other foldables.

Everything about this phone’s positioning suggests that it is the smartest buy of the Razr trio. Motorola made the Razr Ultra for enthusiasts and the base Razr for buyers on a budget. But the Razr Plus? It might just be the go-to choice for everyone else.